GARY ‘SPIKE’ O’SULLIVAN claims he is ‘sick of the talk’ ahead of his bout against Chris Eubank Jr and that he’s ‘just waiting to get in there now and flatten’ his foe.
The pair won’t meet in the ring until Saturday week, 12 December, but they will renew acquaintances at pre-fight promotional events next week.
O’Sullivan travels to London next Tuesday ahead of a chance to silence his rival with whom he has traded insults and trash talk for some two years, in a support bout to the heavyweight clash between Anthony Joshua and Dillian Whyte at the O2 on Sky Box Office.
For a fight that has been so long in the making, O’Sullivan claims he is tired of the hyperbole and wants to let his fists do the talking – but only after announcing his intentions in colourful style.
“I’d just rather get in the ring now at this stage and beat the shit out of him, knock the head off him, that’s all I want to do now,” Spike told The42.
I’m just waiting to get in there now and flatten him… I’m sick of (talking) now really, to be honest. I just want to get in there and fight.
The 31-year-old Mahon middleweight isn’t reading too much into any psychological advantage from the long-running pre-fight words and maintains that he isn’t reading too much into his opponent’s demeanour.
“It’s hard to really read what he’s thinking, to give an honest answer. He’s arrogant and I don’t like him,” said O’Sullivan on his 26-year-old rival.
“I wouldn’t read into it too much, it doesn’t really bother me, it’s just talk. I wouldn’t worry about it. Talking never won a fight, you can’t punch with your mouth, and when I get in the ring, that’s what counts.”
Both O’Sullivan (22-1) and Eubank Jr (20-1) have suffered one loss, with each of their defeats coming against world-title challenger Billy Joe Saunders who takes on Limerick’s Andy Lee later this month.
O’Sullivan admits that he failed to impress in his own 12-round 2012 loss to Saunders, blaming a lack of preparation on pre-fight issues outside the ring, but the Cork man feels Eubank’s defeat last year showed signs of a lack of fitness.
The son of the former two-weight world champion has often displayed a laidback approach in the ring, with many pundits suggesting that Eubank’s slow start against Saunders cost him the fight. O’Sullivan, however, believes that his nemesis has produced the same tactics too often and was quick to question his fitness.
“I done fuck all really (against Saunders). No work, so I didn’t exert myself in that fight exactly either, but I still felt I had the energy to do another 12 rounds,” said O’Sullivan.
I had too much shit going on outside the ring and it was a shit performance, and Saunders burst my eardrum in the second round.
“(Eubank Jr) keeps going walkabout at times. His fitness mightn’t be the best. I think he does it to get a break, it suits him at times to take it easy and recover.
“I think he doubted his own fitness (against Saunders), he conserved energy because he didn’t believe he’d be able to sustain it. I won’t even rest and I won’t give him a minute off,” added O’Sullivan.
The Cork fighter also caught the eye in a press release to promote the fight as mocked the Eubanks over Eubank Sr’s decision to miss out on a recent press conference in order to go to Australia to start filming ‘I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here’.
“The fact is, his Dad chose to go the chance to go to the jungle and eat animal genitals over being here with his son,” said O’Sullivan.
“I think it has been to Junior’s detriment that his father is not been here for the build-up. He’s not used to being without his old man – I think he’s a lost little child without him and when we get in the ring it will be something similar.”
